Effect of green manuring on the yield of sweet corn

Abstract

Experiments were conducted on a clay soil to assess the effects of green manuring of three annual legumes and nitrogen fertilization on sweet corn (Zea mays var. saccharata Sturt.), during three growing seasons (2001-2003). The green manuring legumes were field pea (Pisum sativum L.), common vetch (Vicia sativa L.) and faba bean (Vicia faba L.) N fertilization ranged from 0 to 360 kg ha-1. On a three-year average, field pea (3 065 kg ha-1) and common vetch (2 647 kg ha-1) consistently had higher aboveground dry matter yields than faba bean (1307 kg ha-1). Field pea and common vetch had N contents of 68.7 and 54.0 kg ha-1 , respectively, in aboveground dry matter in the spring. The average N content of faba bean was only 30.0 kg ha-1. Green manuring treatments and N fertilization had different effects on yield components of sweet corn. Average ear yields of corn were significantly greater in plots receiving green manuring (15 127 kg ha-1) than those without green manuring (13 826 kg ha-1). The ear yields following green manuring legumes were 33-39% higher compared with fallow under unfertilized conditions. Ear yield of corn generally increased with an increasing rate of N fertilizer. Although the combined use of green manuring and 240 and 360 kg ha-1 N fertilization produced high ear yields, there were no statistically significant increases beyond 120 kg ha-1 N. sweet corn / Zea mays var. saccharata / green manuring / field pea / common vetch / faba bean / nitrogen fertilization

Responses of Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) to Green Manure Cover Crops and Nitrogen Fertilization Rates

“…The lower N production in winter wheat treatment was expected because winter wheat does not fix N and because the grain, which contains a high level of N, was removed. These findings are similar to results obtained by Plotkin (2000), Turgut et al (2005), and Mitchell and Teel (1977) who found that 90% of N accumulation in legume cover crops was in the haulm.…”

“…Harvested cover crop biomass was redistributed in the harvested area. N concentration was measured by the Micro-Kjeldahl Technique (Turgut et al 2005) on both above-ground and root samples.…”

“…Because, we added 45 kg N ha −1 as fertilizer before green manure crops planting. Previous studies have shown that total N incorporated into the soil varied from 30 kg N ha −1 to 70.7 kg N ha −1 (Thorup-Kristensen and Nielsen 1998; Turgut et al 2005) for common vetch, faba bean and pea.…”

Dry matter accumulation and potato productivity with green manure

“…There was increased growth and production of tomatoes under cultivation of hairy vetch Vicia villosa, demonstrating the efficiency of N supply by green manure , Tosti et al, 2012 and increased yields of sweet corn with field pea and common vetch (Turgut et al, 2005). Green manure improves the physical, chemical and biological properties of soil (Sharifi et al, 2014) including water retention, cation exchange capacity and microbial activity (Riutta et al, 2012;Dash et al, 2014).…”

“…Leguminous plants as green manure represent an alternative to mineral fertilizers, as they fix, accumulate and provide large quantities of nitrogen to crops , Turgut et al, 2005. This may reduce or replace conventional chemical fertilizers in production systems, especially by releasing N in organic production systems (Ferreira et al, 2013).…”